The Security Council is voting today on a new draft resolution regarding Gaza.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

**Arabian Sea_Reuters:** The UN Security Council will vote again today, Thursday, on a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and allowing humanitarian aid to reach the besieged and devastated sector, in a proposal supported by a majority of member states trying to act in the face of the ongoing war for 23 months, despite the repeated US veto. At the end of August, the elected members launched discussions on the draft resolution, in response to the United Nations' official declaration of famine in the Gaza Strip. The first version of the text called for the immediate removal of all obstacles to the entry of aid. However, diplomatic sources said that France and the United Kingdom showed skepticism about the feasibility of a purely humanitarian resolution issued by a body designed to maintain international peace and security, which the United States could block anyway. Accordingly, the draft resolution calls for an end to restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, while calling for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza," in addition to the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, according to Agence France-Presse. Of the 251 people kidnapped during an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, 47 are still being held in Gaza, including 25 who have died, according to the Israeli army. The United States has previously rejected similar draft resolutions submitted to the Security Council for a vote, most recently in June when it used its veto to protect its ally Israel. The question is raised about the feasibility of pursuing this attempt again, even though it is likely to face the same fate as its predecessors. In response to this question, a European diplomat said that "doing nothing would be easy for the Americans, who would not have to justify their positions to the 14 members of the (International Security) Council and to world public opinion," refusing to do nothing simply for fear of the American veto. The diplomat, who declined to be identified, added that "this does not help the Palestinians on the ground much, but at least we continue to show that we are trying." The previous veto sparked anger among the other 14 members of the Security Council, who are increasingly expressing their frustration at the failure to pressure Israel to end the plight of the residents of the Gaza Strip. The Hebrew state is facing international pressure to stop the war that broke out following the Hamas attack on its territory on October 7, 2023. The attack resulted in the death of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli data. More than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of the violent military campaign launched by the Israeli army following the attack, according to figures published by the Hamas government and considered reliable by the United Nations. Likewise, the vast majority of the population of the Palestinian sector, numbering more than two million people, who have been besieged by Israel since the beginning of the war, have been displaced. Humanitarian aid has only reached the sector to a limited extent, while the siege imposed by Israel in early March 2025 has been relatively eased since the end of May. In August, UN partner experts confirmed that famine had occurred in part of the sector, but Israel denies this and accuses Hamas of looting aid. In addition, a UN committee accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza, in a report that Israel described as "biased and misleading." In 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.